Chapter 22
Stakar was waiting in Controls for us and hands me two holopads. "That one has a list of things to do and the other one has lessons from Yondu and his Doc." He hands me another one and I look at it. "That has a schedule for training and how many things and lessons you have to get done within seven solar cycles." I look at the holopads and see hundreds or more on the list while there were thousands of lessons. I look at the last one and see I had to get fifty-six items on the list, one hundred five lessons, and at least twenty-eight hours of training during seven solar cycles. Every seven solar cycles. Until I go back to Yondu.
"How the Hell am I supposed to get fifty-six items, one hundred five lessons, and twenty-eight hours of training in the span of seven solar cycles when I still need to eat and sleep?"
"Twenty-eight hours? That's wrong." He takes that holopad and I wait. "There." He hands it back to me and I see it said at least eighty-eight hours of training per seven solar cycles. "Any other complaints?"
"Take me back to the fucking Eclector."
"Excuse me?"
"I didn't know I fucking stuttered. This is bullshit and you know it. I can't get the nutrients and sleep I need when I have to put eighty-eight hours of training in for every seven solar cycles I'm with you on top of fifty-six items on this list and one hundred five lessons."
"That sounds like it's your problem. Figure it out and have everything done on time. Or else." He leaves with Martinex and I clench my fist around the holopads before taking a deep breath, just leaving Controls.
"As of right now, I sleep eight hours... Leaving me with sixteen out of twenty-four awake... The current amount of training would be about twelve and a half hours a solar cycle or more... Which'd leave me three and a half hours for everything else... If I only sleep four hours, then I'll get seven and a half hours after training... So, I could split the training up into smaller chunks... I could split it into five mini sessions and go for two and a half hours for each one... The other seven and a half hours would be for the items on the list and lessons... Or I can just do the items on the list and lessons first then do the training all at once each solar cycle... I'd have to do fifteen lessons each solar cycle... And eight items for each solar cycle..." I sigh softly and look at the list, thinking.
"Lessons are always easier, let's start with those..." I go to find somewhere quiet to study and find a hatch above a ladder before the hatch is suddenly opening. I quickly hide and don't see who comes out, waiting until their footsteps fade. I go over to the ladder and climb it, opening the hatch quietly.
"Holy fuck," I breathe after shutting the hatch since the entire room had the same glass for the windshield on it but tinted so that no one could see in and it made the stars pop more. "This is awesome..." I shake my head slightly, remembering why I was there in the first place, and go over to the corner, starting to do the lessons.
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The hatch opens and I look up to see Stakar come up, looking at me in shock then because of anger. "How in the Hells did you find this place?" He growls as he comes over and I stand so I didn't feel so vulnerable, dropping the holopads.
"I... I just found it earlier..."
"Get out," He snarls and I grab the holopads, leaving. "And get to fucking work on what I gave you," He barks and I go down the ladder as he slams the hatch shut, making me flinch. I walk away and continue to study the lessons, only having five done.
Someone shoves me onto the ground and scoffs. "Out of my way, runt." I stand and dust myself off slightly, frustrated. Someone breaks the three holopads and a group of them laugh as they walk away. "Have fun, runt! And you should clean that up! Captain hates having a cluttered ship like that!" I gather up the pieces and try to find the engineering and tech teams.
"What do you want, kid?"
"Somebody broke these and I need the information on them. Anything you can do?" They look at it and snort.
"Nah. Now go away and stop wasting our time. Can't you see we're doing important shit?" They shoo me out and I leave, broken holopad pieces in my hands still. I put them in my pockets and walk around the ship, finding a closet to have a breakdown in on a side of the ship that no one seems to come to. I sit against a wall behind a crate and put my head in my hands, freaking out a bit.
"Oh, Gods... I'm gonna die... Pops is gonna kill me... Can't even fucking keep the holopads together... Why is this so much more difficult? It's the same shit I do with Gramps... Why is this so much more difficult?" My heart rate ratchets up and I can't ground myself as I have a panic attack, burying my hands in my hair. "Gods... Not now..." I whimper and bring my knees to my chest as I try to calm down, pulling my hair. "Calm down... This isn't anything big... Why am I like this?"
The door opens and I cover my mouth tightly. "Rogue," Martinex says simply and I bury another hand in my hair again. "I know you're in here. I saw you come in nearly an hour ago. What in the Hells are you working on?" His footsteps come over and stop in front of me. "Hey. I asked you a question." I glance up and see he was crouching in front of me. "What are you working on?"
"Nothing..."
"Why?" I take the holopads out and put them on the crate carefully. "And you can't be training instead of feeling sorry for yourself in a closet?"
"This isn't me feeling sorry for myself... This is me having a panic attack..."
"Well stop it and get your ass back to work." He starts to stand and I scoff. "What?"
"I can't just stop having a panic attack... I can't do anything because all of the shit I needed to do is busted with the holopads..."
"Well try and try harder to get on Captain's good side."
"I am fucking trying! I can't get on his good side because he doesn't have a good side when it comes to me! I'm trying fucking hard to be a good Ravager and at everything, while also trying to stick up for myself! It's fucking hard as Hell, OK? I can't do anything right and Yondu finally fucking got rid of me for all the shit I pulled!" I scrub at the tears, missing the look of shock on his face, and scoff softly. "But what would you know about that? You don't have to question your standing in the Ravagers... I... I just..." I run a hand harshly through my hair and mutter, "I just want to make you guys proud and all I can do is fuck it up... I'm sorry..."
"Alright, listen." I look at him and he stays crouched in front of me. "Blue didn't get rid of you. Stakar told him how this would work and he was pissed at the level of work that was going to be piled on you because you need stuff that we don't need as much of because we're used to it. Blue managed to lower it from what it was before. He was still pissed but Stakar didn't let him argue it anymore. Why do you look so shocked?"
"I... I thought I was just somebody he had to deal with... He's usually pissed off with me..." He chuckles and I look at him.
"Gods, we forget that you're still a kid. That's how Blue is. He says that you're good at what you do and at pissing people off. And that you don't put up with people's bullshit. You still go about it the wrong way, though." I run a hand through my hair and he watches me, seeing something. "Rogue," I look at him and he grabs my shoulder, gently squeezing it. "You are making us proud because you're doing good work and you're doing your best. You just got to think through what you're going to do so that you can still not put up with people's bullshit but in a way that doesn't land you in shit with us, alright?"
"Alright..."
"Good. Now, let's see what we can do about this shit." He pulls some tools out of a bag at his side and hands them to me, standing to grab two small crates. I stand and look at the holopads as he sets the crates down before he pushes me to sit on one. "What happened to them?"
"Somebody stomped on them."
"Alright then. Let's see if we can salvage the memory at least."
"The tech and engineering team said they couldn't, though."
"They probably thought it was one of the items on the list Stakar was talking about. We can probably salvage something." He takes the tools I need to use and hands them to me. "I'm going to walk you through it." I nod and he starts to tell me what to do.
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"What the Hell is going on in here?" Stakar asks after he sees me and Martinex sitting in the closet and I jump, fumbling with a piece of the holopad I need before I catch it.
"Ha! Caught it..." I smile a bit and Martinex face palms slightly.
"Well?" He glares at both of us and I lose the smile, fiddling with the piece a bit as I stumble over words.
"The, um... The holopads, uh..."
"The holopads what, Rogue?" He asks impatiently and I fiddle with the piece more, not looking at Stakar because I can feel how pissed he is from the glare. "Look at me when I'm talking to you," He barks and I look at him, shrinking a bit.
"Hey, relax. Breathe," Martinex says softly and I take a deep but short breath before trying to talk again.
"The holopads got smashed... So Sparkles was walking me through how to get the memory of them out so that I could look back at them now and then... While I'm here," I explain carefully and Stakar stares at us before nodding.
"Hurry up then get to fucking work." He leaves without waiting for a response and I relax a bit, sighing softly.
"You good?" I shrug a bit and run a hand through my hair. He gently pats my shoulder and looks at the piece as I get the other two pieces out. "Alright. Now you just need to do the same process with the other two holopads. Do you have new ones yet?"
"No... Couldn't I just transfer the memory from this onto my wrist com?"
"You could, yeah. But that'd take a while." I look at the piece and think, turning it over. "What are you doing?"
"It looks like something I saw in Rocket's area on Dad's ship... He did something and... HA!" I pressed something and a small holoscreen pops up above it. "Damn, it's really fucking small, though..."
"I can't even read that, kid. How are you going to be able to?" I activate my visor and use that to zoom in on it. "OK, yeah. That works too." I smile a bit and look through it.
"This is the list of stuff I have to do. So one of these is the lessons and the other is the schedule. I already have the lessons linked to my visor so if I could link these two with my wrist com and visor too..."
"You'd be able to look back on them easily. How long did it take to link the lessons to your visor?"
"Like... Ten minutes...?" He nods a bit and looks at the list a bit.
"Let me see those." He takes my visor and looks at the list through them. "Alright, get the other two started on linking them up and I'll help you out with some of the more difficult tasks on this list. Sound good?" I nod and look at the list again after he hands me my visor back.
"But I still got the training to do. Wouldn't it be better to do that first?"
"No. That comes after you've had time to do the other shit. You'll want to pass out once you're done with training because we don't fuck around and we're gonna go for the straight twelve hours, thirty-four minutes, and forty-eight seconds every solar cycle." I nod a bit and he looks at me. "We're gonna have a break or five included in that time so relax."
"Thank Gods..." He chuckles and pats my shoulder gently, standing. I get started on linking the memory to my wrist com and visor at the same time. "It might take about twenty minutes now since I'm trying to link them to both of them at the same time..."
"That's fine. You've got a few hours before we go to train."
"Where are we going?"
"Nowhere that you need to know about yet," He smirks and I pocket the pieces, rolling my eyes slightly. "Come on. Stakar wants us to get to work. And he is not one to be ignored."
"Sounds like you're speaking from experience."
"Blue would too. Bet he kept some of the ways Stakar would deal with us when we were younger."
"You mean you were young at one point? Damn, that's surprising," I smirk and he scoffs, shoving me slightly.
"Idiot."
"Eh, maybe." He leads me to a small area and I look around a bit. "Where are we?"
"Recreational room by my Quarters. Not many people use this area so it'll be quiet. Get to work on some of that list. The easier ones so you can get them done faster." I nod and look around a bit. "Sit at that desk there. It has anything you'd need for the tasks. Including the tech you'd need to work on." I nod again and go over to the desk, doing as I was told. He grins slightly and walks away.
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I stretch with a soft groan after finishing the tasks and the rest of the lessons, running a hand through my hair with a slight yawn. I look at my wrist com to see that everything had been linked up and it had been five hours. "Damn..." I stand and get lightheaded, falling to the floor. I push myself to my feet and brace myself against the desk, head still swimming.
Stakar walks past the doorway and comes back, looking at me. "What's wrong with you?"
"Lightheaded... It happens when I haven't eaten or drank anything..."
"When was the last time you did either?"
"Um... Before I fell asleep last night at... 2230..." He looks at me and comes over, looking at my face. "What?"
"You able to walk without falling over or holding onto something?"
"Probably not."
"Then sit down and don't move." I sit and he leaves with, "I'll be back in five minutes with food for you. And you're going to eat it or I'll shove it down your throat." I wait and rub my head slightly.
"Here." He sets it on the desk in front of me and grabs another chair, sitting by the desk to keep an eye on me. I start eating and drink the water that was with it too. "Don't get so sucked into your work that you forget to eat. It's stupid." I nod my understanding and finish eating then finish the water. "How's the work coming?"
"Done with eight of the fifty-six tasks on the list, fifteen of the one hundred and five lessons, and still need to do the training for today. I'll get all of the stuff done for the seven solar cycles."
"Good." He looks at the tray then at me and nods slightly. "Deal with that once you're head's better."
"Got it." He nods again and leaves with a pat on my shoulder. He pauses at the door and looks at me, leaning against it slightly.
"Yondu didn't get rid of you so get that thought out of your head. When I take you back, he's probably gonna try to punch me in the face."
"He'd have to get in line. Over twelve hours of training a day? Seriously, Pops? I do need to sleep." He shrugs one shoulder with a smirk and leaves. "I wonder..." Martinex comes in with a satchel and I look at him.
"Time for training. Let's go. Just leave the tray."
"Stakar told me to deal with it, though..."
"And I'm saying leave it for someone else. Let's go. I want to be leaving in two minutes, which is how long it takes to get from here to the hangar." I nod and he starts walking toward the hangar. I grab the tray and take it to Mess, ditching it on the cart for the trays before bolting for the hangar.
"Hey! Watch it!" Someone yells as I run into them and I avoid their fist.
"I'm in a hurry and you're in my way! Sounds like it was your fault!" Stakar steps out of a door and I can't stop in time. Damnit.
I pull on my magnetic gloves and grab a pipe, scaling it quickly to get around him. "The fuck, Rogue?"
"Sorry!" I land on the floor with a roll and continue running to the hangar, boarding the ship by Martinex as he counts down,
"Three, two- Finally. Nearly missed the two-minute mark." I take my gloves off and put them in my pockets, panting softly. "Just had to deal with the tray, huh?"
"Well, yeah..." He rolls his eyes and pilots us out of the hangar after we're both strapped in.
"Ran all the way to the hangar from Mess?"
"Yeah. I-"
"Hold that thought." He answers a video transmission and Stakar looks at us. "Yes, Captain?"
"Why the Hell are you running through the ship like a mad man?"
"I had two minutes to get to the hangar on one side of the ship and Mess is on the other side of the ship. And I had to deal with the tray you brought me," I explain carefully and he narrows his eyes at me. "I didn't want to see what Sparkles might do if I didn't get to the hangar by the end of two minutes."
"You got there with a second to spare."
"It counts." They roll their eyes and I put my hair up. "I didn't run into you at least."
"You used a pipe to throw yourself over me instead and almost kicked me in the head."
"Oh. Heh. Sorry." I smile sheepishly and he shakes his head, ending the transmission. "So... What type of training is this?"
"The kind that takes over twelve and a half hours," Martinex smirks and I sigh softly, nodding.
"Yeah, that's fair."